Ship construction

ABSTRACT

A large capacity ship is constructed by joining three smaller vessels, two of which include independent propulsion and navigation means and each having an asymmetrical cross section. The third vessel has less draft than the other two and lies between the two other vessels and is joined thereto so that its hull lies above the waterline. The nonsymmetrical sides of the two vessels are placed in opposing relationship to one another so that the sea-going characteristics of the combined vessel are improved.

United States Patent Bjarne Rosted Bekkelagshogda, Norway 869,979

May 20, 1969 Dec. 7, 1971 A/S Akers Mek, Verksted May 20, 1968 Norway Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee Priority SHIP CONSTRUCTION 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. C1 Int. Cl B63b 3/02 Field of Search 1 14/77, 72-74, 28-30, 43.5, 61, 235, 65; 115/22, 26, 67,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1918 Wells 2,325,993 8/1943 Z011 1 14/435 2,359,549 10/1944 Epstein..... 114/77 X 3,362,372 1/1968 Peterson... i. 114/235 3,494,318 2/1970 Katsumura 1 14/235 2,464,957 3/1949 Wood 114/61 3,481,296 12/1969 Stephens 1 14/61 X Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-F. K. Yee Attorney-Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watson ABSTRACT: A large capacity ship is constructed by joining three smaller vessels, two of which include independent propulsion and navigation means and each having an asymmetrical cross section. The third vessel has less draft than the other two and lies between the two other vessels and is joined thereto so that its hull lies above the waterline. The nonsymmetrical sides of the two vessels are placed in opposing rela tionship to one another so that the sea-going characteristics of the combined vessel are improved.

PATENTED DEC 7 |97| INVENTOR m 8Y6} (may, Mv u/LLI ATTORNEYS SHIP CONSTRUCTION The present invention relates to a new ship or vessel construction, preferably for larger ships, as, for example, supertankers.

Previously cargo ships, e.g., bulk cargo ships were made uniformly, i.e., as a uniform hull for a ship construction and provided with propulsion means, navigation means, etc. Especially as regards tankers the tonnage has increased very much lately resulting in supertankers of several hundred thousand tons, and such ships are now planned in an order of up to 800,000 tons or even more. Such colossal ship units require corresponding enormous ship building docks or slips. Furthermore, large amounts of steel are required to give these ships the necessary strength, such ships for one thing, necessarily being of considerable length.

To avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks and at the same time also to achieve further advantages as compared to the previously known ship construction it is suggested according to the present invention to build a ship, comprising the building of at least one approximately complete vessel provided with propulsion machinery and one more vessel, which preferably lacks propulsion machinery and then combining the two vessels alongside to form one combined ship unit.

According to a preferred embodiment two approximately complete vessels provided with propulsion machinery are built as well as one further vessel without propulsion machinery, whereupon these three vessels are combined along the sides of one another with the further vessel lacking propulsion machinery arranged between the two first mentioned vessels. When the term vessel is used in this specification it should cover any hull construction designed to be built and launched as a separate, floating unit.

With the preferred embodiment comprising two enginedriven vessels combined with an intermediate nonenginedriven vessel a ship unit is obtained, with propulsion machineries in both lateral vessels, whereas the intermediate vessel only serves to receive cargo. With such a ship construction one can, for example, build a supertanker of 600,000 tons by successively building three 200,000 tons ships one of which has no engine. It is thus possible to build the two engine-driven vessels at first and, if desired, put them into operation so as to earn freightage while the completing section, that is, the nonengine-driven vessel is built. When this last-mentioned section has been built the two sailing vessels can be summoned and the three vessels can be assembled definitely to a ship unit of, for example, 600,000-tons carrying capacity. By building a ship in this manner a construction is obtained having far less than a single supertanker would have had. As the vessels are joined alongside of one another also a more compact construction is achieved permitting considerable amounts of steel to be saved.

The nonengine-driven vessel can be built more or less without lateral plating on the side or sides to be joined with an adjacent engine driven vessel, since the plating of said adjacent vessel can serve as a common longitudinal bulkhead for both vessels.

The nonengine-driven vessel also can have a bottom construction and/or a cross-sectional profile contributing to alleviate the displacement of the water masses being pushed by this or the other vessels constituting the ship unit wherein the hull of the intermediate vessel lies entirely above the water. Preferably the bilges and possibly the top edge of the plating on adjacent sides are also fonned so as to let the joining line or possibly the welded joint between the hulls lie above the water level for the ship in ballast. The assembly of, for example, three vessels to a combined unit as specified above, can thus be carried out with the three vessels floating freely in the sea and maneuvered into position alongside one another.

The individual vessels can be joined by welding and/or other joining means. If desired, the adjacent ship's sides are constructed so as to engage one another and/or provided with meshing elements and possibly completed by further joining means. A construction of this kind would permit the joined ships hulls to be disassembled or taken apart from one another, when this is necessary for docking and/or more extensive reparations, e.g., after average.

The invention shall now be described with reference'to the drawing, where a ship built of three vessels according to the inventive idea is schematically shown.

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the combined ship.

FIG. 2 shows a top plan of the ship.

FIG. 3 is a cross section through the combined ship.

One is the portside vessel, 2 at the starboard vessel having between them a third vessel 3. The two first-mentioned vessels are provided with propulsion machinery and rudders etc. The intermediate vessel 3 lacks propulsion means and has less depth than the two first mentioned vessels. When the vessels have been brought alongside for definite assembly the upper portions 6 of the adjacent side faces as well as the lower portions 6 should be accessible above the waterline VL for the ship in ballast. The assemblage can thus be carried out by the aid of welding, the bottom 7 of the middle vessel 3 being clear of the waterline VL.

In order to obtain advantageous flow conditions for the combined ship, both the lateral vessels 1 and 2 can preferably be somewhat asymmetric, as shown in FIG. 3. The usual curve of the bilges 8 at the ship outside can for example have a form as indicated in FIG. 3 as regards the side facing the central section 3. A similarly adapted sectional profile can be arranged for the decks and other adjacent portions of the two side vessels. The side vessels 1 and 2 will thus not be quite symmetric as to their cross-sectional structures. The symmetrical irregularity will, however, not be so great as to prevent the possibility of letting the lateral vesselssail as separate cargo ships while the last section of the complete construction is built, whereupon the three vessels are combined as mentioned above. In case the ship comprises three combined vessels as in the shown embodiment, it may be suitable to arrange the bridge with axociated controls on the central vessel, as indicated in FIG. 2. This can be achieved by removing the original and in this case preferably provisional bridge constructions and building a new, permanent bridge on the central section, or by transferring the bridge construction from one of the lateral vessels to the central vessel. Besides, there is nothing to prevent the bridge construction to remain on one of the lateral vessels after the fashion of an aircraft carrier.

For the combined ship the decks of the individual vessels are preferably fitted into one uniform deck for the whole ship, as indicated in FIG. 2.

What is claimed is:

I. A ship constructed from a number of individual vessels, comprising:

first and second vessels constructed to be independent seagoing vessels and each having freight-carrying hold and including independent means for propulsion and navigation, said first and second vessels each having similar cross-sectional structures.

a third vessel positioned between and joined to said first and second vessels and dependent upon at least one of said first and second vessels for propulsion and navigation to provide a ship having greater carrying capacity than said individual first, second and third vessels the sidewalls of said third vessel comprising the adjoining said hulls of said first and second vessels.

2. 'A ship as in claim I wherein said third vessel includes means for controlling the propulsion of said first and second vessels.

at :k a: e a: 

1. A ship constructed from a number of individual vessels, comprising; first and second vessels constructed to be independent seagoing vessels and each having a freight-carrying hold and including independent means for propulsion and navigation, said first and second vessels each having similar cross-sectional structures, a third vessel positioned between and joined to said first and second vessels and dependent upon at least one of said first and second vessels for propulsion and navigation to provide a ship having greater carrying capacity than said individual first, second and third vessels the sidewalls of said third vessel comprising the adjoining side hulls of said first and second vessels.
 2. A ship as in claim 1 wherein said third vessel includes means for controlling the propulsion of said first and second vessels. 